I got my Transferwise card when i was in Germany (so not from Malaysia).

Contactless works where it's accepted, though i think you need to activate the card first with a chip transaction.

But I rarely use it, since I link it to Google pay for contactless when I need to use it.

Still can't believe no Google Pay yet in Malaysia.

I don't think the other poster is quite right.

There are 2 options, depending on your choice of MY bank account.

1. MY bank account, created in Wise app.
This uses the "convert" function.

2. Local MY bank account. e.g. CIMB or Maybank.
This uses the "send" function.

Both will use Wise's conversion rate and fees. You can see the conversion rate and fee when you initiate the transfer - this is very transparent.
Then you can compare and decide whether you want to confirm the transfer.

I transfer money from my EU account to my local MY account frequently, they're all using Wise's rate. I dunno why the other poster said it uses bank rate - the point of Wise is that it uses Wise's rate and not standard bank rates.

The way Wise works is that they act like the money changer. They take your money in USD in US, then order their branch in MY to disburse the money to your MY account. . That's how they bypassed the banks and offer competitive rates.

This post has been edited by jonoave: Oct 13 2022, 04:59 PM

Like I said, you can see all the fees when you initiate the transfers.

I just opened the app, and right now if I want to send 100 euro from my Wise EU account to local CIMB account. It says:

0.88 EUR: Balance transfer fee.
99.12 EUR: Total amount we'll convert
4.56295: Guaranteed exchange rate

Recipient gets: 452.28 MYR

Here you can already see the fees, the exchange and how much you're getting.

And yes, I will get MYR452.28 in my local CIMB account, no additional fees or charges by banks.

If the person is transferring from a US account to your WISE US account, and presumably there is free transfer among US banks/institutiosn, then you should get 100 USD in your WISE US account.

At least that's my experience with Euro. I have another Euro account, and I top up my Wise account to use as prepaid card. Thanks to EU regulations, transfer between EU accounts are free. So I transfer 100 euro from my own EU account to my Wise EU account, no fees. But withdrawing from my Wise EU account does have some fees, but I never withdraw and just use it as prepaid card. And of course I also top up my WISE EU account, to send back as MYR occasionally.

You need to be aware that Wise is a multi-currency account. You need to "open" an account for each country you're interested.
That's why I always specify Wise US account. If you go to the Wise website, you can see images with different country flags in the app - each flag represent an account.
E.g. a person can hold:
100 USD
150 Euro
50 in SGD
200 GBP

All at the same time, within the Wise app. There is not just one WISE account, but it depends on how many account/countries you wish to open (AFAIK it's one account per country).


For me and likely for you, there is no need to open a Wise MY account since we already have a local bank. In your case, you would need to tap and "open" a US account within Wise first, which will give you the US account details you can forward to the sender in US.

However, if for example you opena GBP (UK) account in your WISE app and you give this UK account details to your friend in US, then there could be bank charges since the bank in US is paying in USD to a UK account.

From your WISE US account to your local MY CIMB account, that is correct.


I'm not sure about US -> MY, I've only done Euro to MYR. The first transaction might take longer, but these days for me it's usually 1 business day. Actually no, since last year I think it's within minutes for me.

Edit: btw, I can provide you with a referral code before you sign up so you can waive the transfer fees for your first transfer.

This post has been edited by jonoave: Oct 13 2022, 07:56 PM

Yes, give your Wise US account details to the sender. Once you have the money in your Wise USD account, up to you to:

1. Keep it there in USD, use the Wise card for while travelling overseas like in US or anywhere. Even in Malaysia (basically like you use credit card while overseas, only now in reverse. And yes, again using Wise's conversion rate + the fees).

2. Convert whatever amount you wish to MYR (by transferring it to Maybank). Using Wise's conversion rate + fees, based on the example above.


The example I give the sender is MYSELF. I'm the one sending/transferring 100 Euro from my Wise EU account to my local CIMB account. I'm giving you the example of how it would look like, once you have 100 USD in your Wise USD account and wants to transfer it you local Maybank account.

I don't know enough about US bank transfers, whether it's free for all. lIke in EU it's supposed to be free. In Malaysia, we used to have IBG fees of like RM0.50 - RM1. but now it's also all free. You can google or ask the person in US how much is the fee, but I doubt it will be high.

Look at the example I provided. it's already very clear. The fee here is 0.88 Euro deducted by Wise before conversion. That is all the fees imposed. You will received the amount stated in your Maybank account (in the example above, 452.28 MYR).

You can try with a small amount before converting if you're still unclear or unsure.

Yes, that's the US account. You tap on it, and you should see an option to display the account details: Like account number, SWIFT number etc.


I've never tried sending money from Paypal to Wise. If I'm not mistaken, PayPal conversion rate is pretty low too.,

The point of Wise is that you want to use Wise's forex conversion rate, not the banks. in other words you receive money like a local.

If you're transferring USD in paypal, then put in the details of the Wise USD account as the recipient.

If you're transferring Euro in paypal, then put in the details of the Wise Euro account as the recipient.

Once you have the money in your (100 USD in your Wise USD or 100 Euro in your Wise Euro account), then you can do whatever you want - using Wise's forex rates and fees.


This post has been edited by jonoave: Oct 18 2022, 05:15 AM

In order:
1. Deduct from local currency (e.g yen).
2. If not enough, deduct from other currency account with the best exchange rate.




You should top up the Wise MYR account using MYR. Then convert from Wise MYR --> Wise Yen.
If you're topping up Yen using local bank, wouldn't that be using the local bank's exchange rate and fees?

But this step is optional. if you don't have Yen or insufficient Yen, it will always deduct from another currency account with the best exchange rate.

yeah the 4 digit PIN thing I think, is according to EU common standards

What I do is receive the foreign currency in the corresponding Wise currency account, e.g. Euro to Wise Euro account. Then , from Wise Euro transfer to a local Malaysia bank. So conversion fee is only 1 time, using Wise's fee. And no ATM withdrawal charges with local banks.

No need for your aunt to trouble. Transfer of Euro within EU is free.

You sign up for a Wise account, then open a WISE Euro account. Give the details of you Wise Euro account to your aunt, mainly the IBAN number. Then you'll receive the full amount of Euro in your Wise Euro account. After that, you can transfer the money from your Wise Euro account to a local Malaysian bank, with the conversion rate and fees charged by Wise (which is typically cheaper than banks). The app will clearly show much fees and conversion rate, and the amount of MYR you will receive - there is no additional charges imposed by banks.

This post has been edited by jonoave: Jan 13 2023, 01:49 PM

Yep. What you can try to do is create account on Wise (you can ask for referral link).

Then
1. open a USD currency account in Wise.
2. Transfer USD from your Cambodia to the USD currency account in Wise. Be mindful of possible fees, check with your bank in Cambodia.
3. Then transfer the USD in your Wise USD account to a Malaysia bank. This will use Wise exchange rate, and the fees will be displayed there. What they show is the final MYR you will receive, no additional fees.

Edit: this assumes that your intention is to transfer USD in Cambodia to MYR in Malaysia. If not you can just store the USD as it is in the Wise USD account.

This post has been edited by jonoave: Feb 16 2023, 09:14 PM

@#chihuahua, @Mr Gray are correct. Transferring from Wise account to a bank typically has a small fee, so method 1 (from Wise MYR account to an MYR bank) will cost just a bit more.
Based on my personal experience with converting Euro.

What I tend to do is, when forex is optimal.

1. Transfer from foreign account to Wise EU account (EU transfers are free, though transferring out from Wise EU to an EU bank has a small fee)
2. Then Wise EU account --> local bank in Malaysia (Wise fees and the forex are clearly displayed, the displayed MYR is exactly how much you will receive in your account). There is no fee imposed by bank in Malaysia.

Edit: ask for referral to sign up, you'll get first transfer free (no Wise fee, ie. they will convert full amount).

This post has been edited by jonoave: Feb 19 2023, 07:18 AM

yes, depending on the method of transfer there is charges. Manual bank transfer is free (ie. like IBG in Malaysia) is free, but with credit card/Google Pay or other payment gateways there is a small fee.

And obviously manual bank transfer is the slowest. Few years ago when I started it took about half a day, then it was 1-2 hours. Now it's almost instantaneous.
But anyway i always have some Euro in my Wise EU account to convert money immediately.

I'm more shocked that you can still find Vending machine with soft drinks < RM2.00

A local business will almost always charge in the local currency, e.g. hotel in Singapore will charge in SGD. There is little reason to charge you in another currency, unless the merchant can make additional money off you.

https://tonytravels.com/pay-in-local-currency/
https://www.hsbc.co.uk/international/should...local-currency/

If the hotel in Sg offers to charge you in Euros, that's because the hotel is already using the payment gateway's own rates to convert SGD -> Euros, and tack on additional fees. So you're paying a higher amount in Euros.

When you pay in SGD, Wise will convert Euro to SGD using their own rates, with minimal fees. This most often works out in favour to you.
You can also choose to convert Euro to SGD in the Wise app manually first to top up your SGD balance, there's minimal difference.

Always try to avoid letting merchant set the convertion rate. Pay in the local currency, and use your card's rate (Wise, Visa/Mastercard/Amex) will typically give you a better rate and less fees then the merchant/payment gateaway.

This post has been edited by jonoave: Apr 3 2023, 03:51 PM

if you still have an account and address in Australia, maybe you could apply for an Aussie Wise account/card. Might be a bit tricky if you don't have a way to forward the card or prove the address in Australia.

IIRC, Wise pulls from the most competitive currency you have in your Wallet. Unless that currency is stored in a "Jar", ie. locked

Eg. I had 2 currencies in my Wise, and I was also caught off guard, Wise pulled from the other currency instead of my main one (Euro) - guess Wise though the other currency
had better rates.

Anyway. back to your question. No, you don't specify. Wise will always pull from the most competitive currency rate. It will not pull from another currency unless you don't have enough.
A quick google shows this: https://wise.com/help/articles/2935778/what...e-in-my-account

So from what I can imagine for the other poster (example)
E.g Wants to pay 1000 euro

1. Pull from same currency, if available. He only has 200 euro. This amount is used up.
2. Wise looks for second best rate currency, and he has around 200 GP. And this 200 GBP is used up (example only)

Still have 600 Euros to go. It will keep going through the currencies to pull out the equivalent of 1000 euros. This means the other poster has 4 other currencies (with the best rates for Euro) that have less than 1000 Euro in value.

You don't have to think or automate anything. Your only worry is to have enough money, in whatever currenc(ies).

Activation typically means payment by chip in a store, i.e. insert the card into a machine reader before the wave/tap feature can be activated.

You can try with wave first, if failed then try by chip. Next time wave should work.

This post has been edited by jonoave: Oct 6 2023, 02:59 PM

not sure if they have changed this, but few years ago this happened to me. Euro balance not enough, but they took all from Euro first, then from my other accounts.

It's been a while, so I'm not keen to hunt for it, lol. But yeah, like washout says. First they take from my Euro account, then they take from my other account. They show how much they take from the other account, and the converted amount to Euro (the remaining amount that is required).

I don't think there's a "default" currency per se. They always take from the best rate. E.g my card was issued in Europe so I mostly use Euro. But when I was in Doha and paid with the card, they took the money from my Swedish kronor account instead. I was also surprised, since I thought they would take from my Euro account which have more money.

After that I moved all my SEK to a jar since I don't want them to use the money there.

Seems Wise had some changes.

I've a EU Wise account, and now when I click on my MYR balance. It says "no account details available yet".

Click more and it says:
"MYR:only Malaysian residents can top up their MYR balance directly by MYR".

Doesn't bother me much since I usually do direct transfer from my Euro Wise account to my Malaysian bank account.